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January 25, 2008
A near run thing ...
My brother lives in Cape Town. In a very nice part of the city, on the edge of Flamingo Vlei (Flamingo Lagoon for those who don't have Afrikaans or Dutch) with stunning views of the mountain looking across the vlei and the sweep of Table Bay. It has always been a nice, quiet and rather safe area, but, no longer. On my last visit it was noticeable that squatter huts were gradually creeping along the verges of the motorway leading to Milnerton from the airport, and Flamingo Vlei is near Milnerton.
A month ago, my brother was in the house when there was a sound not unlike a gunshot and the front window disintegrated. He rushed out to find an intruder - and chased him off. THe Police, as ever, arrived too late to have any effect and handed out the usual useless advice about "greater security" and "fit burglar bars and improve the fencing". Everyone knows the spate of burglaries, assaults and murders in this area are related to the squatter encroachment - the very few perpetrators who are caught have all been traced to there. Meanwhile the car park at the local shopping centre has become a highjack opportunity for the thieves and it is no longer safe to even take your dog for a walk along the vlei. A neighbour of my brother's was murdered two weeks ago, walking his little dog along a path he has used daily for twelve years.
Last night I got a distressed e-mail from my brother to tell me that he narrowly avoided a similar fate - in his own living room. His young dog began to bark frantically and he went to investigate, just in time to see a large intruder emerge from his hedge and make a run for the open front room doors. My brother slammed them shut and locked them just in time, then dived into a drawer to grab the only weapon in the house, a pepper spray. The intruder must have thought it was a gun for he ran to scramble back over the fence getting momentarily caught on top of it and my brother, with more anger than thought, grabbed his leg and tried to use the spray. The Cape Doctor made sure they both got a dose.
As usual the police arrived to find no trace of the intruder and, as my brother wasn't actually attacked, have logged it, filed it and done little else. The neighbourhood is now in uproar and my brother is having razor wire installed in his hedge and along the top of the fences. He has been warned to get steel gates fitted to all his doors and to the windows. That is the level of threat everyone in SA now faces, yet, the liberal legal fraternity who now control the administration of justice refuse to impose meaningful sentences on those they do catch and regard the high crime rates as "the legacy of apartheid".
I spoke to my brother this morning. He has had a sleepless night - and so have I. One thing is for sure - the intruder will be back, and next time my brother might not be so lucky. Prayer is about all that is left to either of us.
Posted by The Gray Monk at January 25, 2008 03:14 PM
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Comments
It is such a shame that a such a beautiful City is so beset with these problems. I have only been to Cape Town 3 times, but think it is one of the most spectacular places in the world... yet there is this dangerous underlying violence that seems to blight it.
Posted by: Gorse Fox at January 25, 2008 05:26 PM
I hope it goes better as the days follow and the burglar is caught. My prayers have been added.
Posted by: vw bug at January 26, 2008 01:38 PM
Thanks both. I am actually finding what is happening there instructive - I think I now understand how Rome collapsed so quickly. The example of how infra-structures fall apart when in the hands of the utterly incompetent is stunning.
Posted by: The Gray Monk at January 26, 2008 01:51 PM